THE WRITING is fairly legible, but approaches Black Letter (p. [331]) too nearly to be of use to us for ordinary purposes. Note the ornamental Semi-Rustic Capitals in text. Note the RULING of the two head lines and of the foot line is carried into the margin.
THE VERSALS.—The main interest lies in the varied forms of the Versals, which are most beautifully made in red and green alternately. There is one elaborate gold initial in the book, and several Versals in blue and white (hollow: see p. [208]).
The five
’s—and the D in the text—on this page (folio 85b) by no means exhaust the varieties of D alone, and there are very many varieties of the forms of the other letters. On some pages each line begins with a small Versal, while the more important Initials are much larger, varying in size and ornament.
THE CONSTRUCTION of the Versals is unusually slender, curved, and gradated. A rather fine pen seems to have been used (p. [292]), and though the letters are upright, the natural tendency to slant the pen can be detected in the thickening of the thin parts—above, on the right, and below, on the left—giving the suspicion of a tilt to the O.
The O-part of each
was made first, and the tail
